


When the Heart Grows Fonder

by KaramelHaven



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I really needed a Karamel Reunion, KaraMel, Legion of SuperHeroes - Freeform, Post-Finale, Reunion, Speculation, This came out of nowhere, Time Travel, Valor Rises, spoilers? maybe?, supergirl - Freeform, valor - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-03 23:11:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10977363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaramelHaven/pseuds/KaramelHaven
Summary: Spoilers and Speculation:Mon-El was forced to leave Earth after lead was added to the atmosphere, bidding a heartbroken and tearful Kara goodbye as the two expressed words of love. Kara doesn't handle the loss well at all and shuts down inside, concerning those around her. But, six months later, when an object is hurtling towards Earth, her heart will finally be mended. Mon-El has returned, immune to lead, and more than ready to take up the title of Valor because...he's already done it in the 30th Century. They are not Romeo and Juliet, nothing will keep these star-crossed lovers apart for long :-)





	When the Heart Grows Fonder

**Author's Note:**

> I was writing up the next chapter of Betrayal Never Comes from Enemies, and watching Supergirl at the same time, and ended up writing this out in the span of 2 hours because I was dying. So it is unbetaed and unproofread too. But I was dying from that final goodbye and wanted to at least put something out there for a possible reunion for Karamel :-)

Alex had never been more concerned for her sister than now. Not even when Kara had been infected with Red K. Not even when she’d flown a ship into space and nearly died for it. No, she was truly and deeply concerned. 

And she knew it was bad when even Winn and James and Maggie brought up concerns to her as well. She knew it was awful when J’onn pulled her aside to speak about Kara as well. And she knew it was terrible when Clark called her to ask if everything was ok.

It had been six months since the Daxamite invasion. Six months since Lena Luthor had reconfigured a weapon to send the Daxamites away with poisoned air. And six months since Mon-El had been forced to depart as well.

It had been six months of Kara…not being Kara anymore. 

Kara still worked at CatCo, still operated as Supergirl, but…that was it. It was like that was all there was left to her. She worked at CatCo, but her prose felt…empty. It was textbook and flat, dispassionate and impersonal. She went to work everyday, investigated, wrote her reports, and, well, more and more were getting published. Snapper seemed to be pleased with her by-the-book style now, and happy with how many articles she produced in a sitting. But there was no flare in it, no drive and connection to the readers.

Whenever she wasn’t at CatCo, she was Supergirl. She arrived at the DEO for reports of alien activity and if there was any, she dealt with it. If there wasn’t, she’d fly around the city with an ear open for any danger or threat to be seen to. But even then, she never stayed long after she’d saved the day. She gave a weak smile to children or a firm nod to the adults, but she would just take off after that to find the next person in need of help. And when all her efforts for a day were finished and the city was calm, she went to her loft and…well, Alex wasn’t sure. 

She tried to visit Kara as much as she could, be there for her sister while still maintaining a relationship with her girlfri…fiancé, and her job at the DEO. And it got harder to do it each time she stepped foot into Kara’s apartment. There were blankets on the ground of her sitting room with a two pillows, not even on the couch. She knew Kara wasn’t sleeping in her bedroom any longer. Every time she glanced in, the bed was in the exact same position as when she’d last seen it. Kara should have been sleeping on the couch at the very least, but Kara just refused to even sit on it. She just kept saying she couldn’t fall asleep at night and when she did, it was never for long. She tried to play it off that she was too full of energy and food to rest.

Alex knew better. There were half eaten takeout containers when she knew her sister could easily devour three cartons on her own. She’d been there over night once or twice, when Kara put an effort into sleeping, only to run to her sister’s side when she woke herself from a nightmare, crying out for Mon-El and sobbing into the second pillow she clutched to her chest.

The queue of Kara’s account hadn’t been touched. The loft appeared barely cleaned. The only thing Kara kept neat were her clothes for work. Other than that she sat in her loft and read a cookbook or went through Shakespeare’s books or reread Harry Potter again and again.

It was breaking her heart to see Kara like this. It was like her sister had turned into a robot. All she did was work, eat (barely), or sleep (sometimes). She was going through the motions and barely interacting with anyone. Even when they tried to do game nights or outings with everyone else, Kara just…didn’t engage. She could understand, at least, that group nights were hard on Kara. To see her and Maggie, Winn and Lyra, J’onn and M’gann, James and his new girlfriend, even Clark and Lois some times, all together and happy while she was alone. They tried to never make it a couples thing because of it. But even then, Kara sat there, spoke when she had to, pushed her food around the plate, and then rushed off for some “emergency” that Supergirl was needed for. It had taken over her life, being Supergirl and a reporter. Work was the only thing that made Kara function and she put her all into it. Nothing else mattered to her than being a hero and doing her job.

Alex didn’t know if it was guilt, Kara trying to make up for not being able to save Mon-El, or if her sister was just in that much need of a distraction that she threw herself into work to not feel anything.

It was killing her for Kara to be reduced to this. She wouldn’t even say “over a man” because that wasn’t fair to Kara or what she had with Mon-El. She knew, if this had happened to Lois, Clark would be even more devastated. He’d even admitted to her, if it had been Lois and the decision was on him, he wasn’t sure he could even pick up his cape or go to work. Kara was stronger than him, but she was fractured, her heart was just broken. 

Because this wasn’t just a break up. Mon-El hadn’t just abandoned her. He would have stayed on earth to his very last breath to be with Kara. But he’d been forced away because of the lead. 

Alex blinked back tears as she looked at Kara standing silently in the DEO, staring at the monitors for any sign of an alien threat. She remembered the first time she had experienced Kara’s fretful nights. She’d woken up and sobbed into her pillow, completely unaware Alex was even still there, and kept muttering how she was sorry over and over. She’d caught something else just before she’d managed to shake herself out enough to go hug her sister. 

Kara had been apologizing for pushing him to be a hero.

She had pushed Mon-El and pushed him, trained him and demanded better of him. She’d drilled into him that innocents had to come above anything else, that he HAD to protect other people first and at all costs. And he had. He had given Kara the go ahead, had told all of them to not consider him in their decision to use the lead weapon. He hadn’t thought about himself at all, just the people of the Earth. 

He had been a true hero then.

And Kara regretted it. Because if she hadn’t pushed him so much, maybe he’d be a little selfish, and maybe he’d have been able to convince Kara to be selfish too, just enough to keep him on Earth. 

Hindsight was 20/20. 

Kara HAD defeated Rhea, one more punch, one more well aimed blow and Rhea would have been defeated, perhaps even dead. Mon-El would have been King with both the king and queen gone. HE could have ordered the invasion to stop even if Rhea had no plans to honor the combat. Just a moment longer, just one more alien dead, and it all could have been avoided. But Kara hadn’t even considered killing Rhea herself, and because of that, because Mon-El had told her to use the device, he’d had to leave.

Kara had lost her heart when Mon-El was forced from the planet. And she hadn’t been the same since. She lived and breathed just for being a hero and doing her job, nothing and no one else. And just looking into her eyes killed Alex, because they were so tired, pained, blank…dead. The light and joy that shown through Kara’s eyes was gone and had been extinguished ever since Mon-El left. 

She didn’t know how much longer her sister could keep this up. 

And she was scared to find out what would happen when Kara finally stopped.

Alex jerked up when alarms began to blare around the base. She hurried over to Kara’s side, looking up at the monitor to see it was reading an object nearing earth and speeding towards it with too much speed to be an accident.

“Super…” Alex had barely gotten out before Kara was already flying off to get to the object before it could truly crash. “Winn!” She turned to the man at his computer, seeing him gaping at the reading. “What is it?”

“I don’t…” Winn shook his head, staring at the monitor as though it were a love note from Superman himself.

“Winn!”

“It’s a pod,” he answered, looking up at Alex with his eyes wide. “It’s a Kryptonian pod.”

Alex inhaled sharply at that.

*************************************************************************************************************************************  
Kara flew like a rocket through the sky, her mind focused on only one thing. Get to the object, stop it, maybe even destroy it if she had to. She had learned, she’d learned the hard way, if something was dangerous, destroy it first. Don’t ask questions, don’t try to negotiate, just be done with it. 

If she’d listened to Mon-El, if she’d done things differently, the invasion never would have happened. If she’d just gone with him instead of try to talk to Rhea, he’d still be there. The positron cannon would have taken out the ship and stopped everything. If she’d listened to him the first time and avoided his parents, maybe his father would have been alive, maybe he wouldn’t have been taken the first time leading Rhea to launch her attack. 

She was done with all of that. She wasn’t ever going to be that naïve, hope for the best, little girl anymore. She couldn’t be. There wasn’t enough left in her to be that way anymore. She’d seen the best in someone, and lost someone she loved for it. She’d learned her lesson. Never again.

She’d learned her lesson with Mon-El as well. Humans wouldn’t work. Other aliens wouldn’t work. Mon-El was the person she loved, he was her mate, her only mate. Relationships were not cut out for her, not the way it was for the others. She’d almost had it all, but she’d been arrogant and too ready to rush into things. The irony of the faults Mon-El found in her, but loved her for anyway, didn’t escape her. The faults she had were the reason she’d ultimately lost him. She thought she could have it all, but she hadn’t realized at the time WHAT it was she really wanted.

A good portion of her relationship with Mon-El, even the tentative friendship they had at first, had been about her wanting to be a hero and then wanting to be a reporter…and then maybe have a relationship too. She’d been so fixated on all of that that…Mon-El had taken a backseat, he hadn’t been as important because she’d seen him as the permanent fixture in her life, the thing that would always be there so she didn’t NEED to pay as much attention to it. She’d gone off on him for not wanting to work at CatCo like she did, putting her career before him. She’d berated him for not wanting to be a hero like she did, putting herself on some sort of selfless pedestal for “risking her life” to protect others when really Mon-El would have been risking his life far more than her with his lead allergy. And when she lost her job and had time to spend with him…she’d blown it after the first few weeks and itched to get her job back.

Now all she had left was her job and being a hero. She’d taken him for granted, and lost him because of it.

It was funny in a sad, gut-clenching way, how she’d only appreciated him when she’d nearly lost him. When Rhea had nearly taken him, she’d realized how much she didn’t want to lose him. And when it came down to it…she hadn’t fought for him. She’d chosen the Earth over him. If Clark, the superhero, couldn’t choose the Earth over Lois, why had she chosen it over Mon-El?

She’d gotten cocky. She’d thought she could defeat Rhea. She hadn’t bothered to come up with a plan B despite the fact Rhea had constantly proven she’d never uphold her word. She hadn’t contacted the President for help in the form of armed services. She hadn’t spread the word to the humans that the Daxamites could be taken down by a simple bullet or stabbing them with lead. She hadn’t reached out to other heroes for help. 

The optimist in her had thought Rhea would keep her word.

She would never again assume the best in people. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t risk that again. Doing that had cost her her heart and…she could almost feel it…her soul. She wasn’t the same. She was changed. She knew it, she felt it. She did her job but she didn’t…care…anymore. 

The scariest moment had been when an alien had gotten their hands on some left over Kryptonite from Rhea’s ashes and tried to use it against her.

Scary because she hadn’t cared, in that moment, if the alien did finish her off. Had Alex not appeared and stopped him…she didn’t know how she felt about it. The people needed her…but the people were also the reason she’d lost Mon-El. She’d fought Rhea for them, to protect them, and lost her love because of it. Something had broken inside of her and she didn’t know how to fix it. She felt cold all the time. She couldn’t eat without thinking of the food he’d made her. She couldn’t stomach takeout without thinking of their surprise dates. She couldn’t sleep without dreaming about Mon-El. The nightmares of him, of him succumbing to the lead before she could help, broke her heart all over again. But the dreams of him? Dreams of waking up with him still there, of them being so domestically happy, just blissfully coupley, and then to wake up to him not being there? She couldn’t take those, they hurt so much more. To dream of his smiling face, to feel him holding her, whispering how much he loved her, and wake up to his pillow in her arms and his shirt around her shoulders?

Nothing could describe that sort of agony.

She felt so empty. She used to feel joy and pride and a sense of accomplishment when she’d go out and save the world. But now she felt like there was no point. There was no world to save. Hers was gone. She felt cold and empty and numb all the time. 

A scream broke through her spiraling thoughts and she looked back to see that the people in the city had noticed the object hurtling towards them. She put on more speed and raced for it…

Only for it to suddenly veer to the side.

She paused in the air, flying up higher a moment to still herself and watched as it moved towards a field. A deep frown came onto her face as she watched it for a moment. There was no excuse for it to have done that other than…it was being controlled!

She quickly took off again, racing to get to the field before the ship could and landed with a thump. She looked up to see the ship slow and begin to descend and lifted her hand to block the sun that was bearing down into her eyes…and gasped when she saw the ship clearly.

A Kryptonian pod.

Her heart both clenched in her chest and sped up at the same time.

She inhaled a sharp breath and held it when the pod’s top came off on its own.

And then she was rocketing off and into the arms of the person who had stood up in the pod with enough force to send them both flying backwards onto the grass.

“Ka…”

She didn’t even let him get a word in before her lips smashed onto Mon-El’s, kissing him with a passion she’d forgotten she even possessed anymore.

It wasn’t till she felt his breath come out of his nose in a soft puff and his arms tighten around her, heard his soft moan in her ear, that she wrenched herself away from him. “The lead!” she shouted, panic in her voice, her eyes wide in such a terrible fear for him.

But Mon-El laughed and smiled at her warmer than the yellow sun shining down on them, his hand touching her cheek. “It’s a long story,” he warned her. “But I’m fine. Kara, I’m immune now.”

Kara stared at him a long while, her eyes searching his face for any sign of the discomfort and pained breathing he’d displayed last time she’d seen him…but there was nothing. Just Mon-El, smiling at her, his eyes shining with love and joy and relief, his hand gently stroking up her spine.

She reached out a tentative hand to touch his chin. “You’re here?”

He nodded. “I am.”

She blinked a few times, trying to hold back, but the sob was evident in her voice as she spoke trembling words. “You’re real?”

His expression softened into guilt and regret and pain for her. “Very.”

Kara inhaled deeply, her hand starting to tremble as it traced his face, her eyes locked on his. “You are NEVER leaving me again.”

He let out a broken chuckle. “Never.”

He leaned forward, lunging slightly to press his lips to hers once more, sealing his promise as he held her close to him. The kiss only lasted mere moments before Kara had to break away due to the tears, pressing her face into his chest and sobbing against him, letting out all the emotions she had been bottling up the last few months as Mon-El stroked her hair and whispered sweet words in her ears, neither one about to let go of the other now that they had been returned.

*************************************************************************************************************************************

Mon-El felt his the permanent smile that seemed to be etched onto his face slowly fall away as he stood in the doorway of Kara’s loft, Kara snuggled tightly against him, her grip around his waist not having lightened at all from the moment they had stood up on that field.

She had flown them back to the DEO, demanding Alex run tests to ensure he was actually immune to the lead, despite his presence and continued breathing being proof enough. She had refused to leave his side though, hadn’t let go of his hand even when Alex gave her pointed looks about it. Not that he’d let up on his grip of her hand either. She was far too far away from him even just standing a foot away and holding his hand. It had been awkward to hug Winn with his one hand being tied up, but he wouldn’t let go of Kara now that he had her back for anything.

He’d explained as best he could what had happened to him, which was a story, had Kara not met Barry, many wouldn’t have believed. He’d been lingering in Earth’s orbit, not ready to leave until he absolutely had to…when a wormhole opened up and he’d been sucked into it. He’d found himself in the future, about the 30th century, where a group called the Legion of Superheroes had taken him. He had been trapped there for two years while he helped them deal with an invasion of their own. By that time a cure for the lead allergy present in Daxamites had been discovered and they were planning to attack Earth once more. The Legion had given him the same cure and asked for his help stopping them. He was the only “good” Daxamite the Legion knew of and the only one that might be willing to help them so they’d plucked him out of the past to do so. And he had. He had spent that time training with them and helping them fight the invasion as the superhero “Valor” under the condition that, when they had succeeded, the Legion agreed to send him back to his time.

(If he maybe kept the fact that he was needed back in time from them, well…it was his business. Supergirl was, apparently, a very important figure in history and the Legion had tasked him with ensuring she remain safe. Any remaining stragglers in the Daxamite ranks could attempt following him back, and he needed to make sure Supergirl was around for a long time to keep the timelines in check. Not that he needed that incentive. He loved Kara, he would keep her safe no matter what.)

It was how he’d returned back cured of the lead allergy. It was a hard story to believe, but the DEO had taken his word for it and now he was back with Kara and he couldn’t be happier.

Or so he’d thought. That happiness was hard to feel now that he stood in Kara’s loft.

He didn’t need the private talk he’d had with Alex and Winn while J’onn insisted Kara speak to him and give her report of the pod’s landing in another room. He didn’t need them to tell him to be patient with Kara and to expect changes in her to know something had happened. He didn’t need them to ask him to be there for her or tell him how she’d been in a poor state after he’d left. He’d seen it in her body, in her eyes, in her words, just when he landed. He could see a difference in her from the second before she realized it was him. The hard expression on her face, the coldness in her eyes, the tension in her posture, it wasn’t the joyful Kara he knew.

Her fear of letting him out of her sight was another red flag to him. It wasn’t like Kara to be that clingy or physically affectionate. It wasn’t like her to show that much weakness around him or anyone else that she showed in that field. 

Stepping into the loft now he could see it even clearer the suffering she felt. He could see the bed still unmade and exactly like he remembered it being the last time they’d woken up together before all the chaos. He could see the couch untouched, the blankets on the floor, his pillow lying there beside hers. He could smell and see the takeout cartons, the mess everywhere, the dust and unused things that Kara often used. He could see and read the hopelessness and emptiness she’d felt. 

The loft felt depressed and dark, devoid of life and happiness. And he knew her loft was a reflection of herself. 

“I um…I’m sorry for the mess…” Kara began to apologize.

“Hey,” he turned her in his arms, reaching out to cup her face in his hands. “I’m here. I love you. I’m never going anywhere again.”

He could see it now too, the difference in her. Her eyes were sparkling like comets, she was smiling, she was touching him with a softness that had been missing the moment she touched down on the field. He knew the others saw it too, like a switch had been flipped and the old Kara was back, if just a bit changed from the distance that divided them.

“I know,” she whispered, but her voice caught in her throat. “I thought…”

“Shh,” he gently hushed her, seeing the tears gathering again. “I know.”

He’d felt the same. He’d BEEN the same. He hadn’t had any drive or passion in the future. Nothing mattered to him except stopping the invasion so he could return to Kara. He hadn’t made friends, barely made allies, hadn’t shown any interest in anything except training and fighting the invasion. Because that was all that was going to help him get back to her. Much like, he’d been told, she had no interest in anything besides her job and being Supergirl, because that was all that was going to get her to wake up in the morning. 

They had both suffered without the other, become people no one else would recognize. But now they were together again, and they had no plans of ever letting the other go…which would probably make the next day very interesting when Kara had to go to CatCo. He wondered briefly if she’d take him along with her and have him sit beside her while she typed with one hand…he honestly wouldn’t put it past either of them right now.

“I’ll clean up,” Kara began to say.

Mon-El leaned in and kissed her quickly. “We can do that tomorrow. Right now…” He glanced up with a soft smile on his face, looking at something in the apartment and back to her. “Right now, the only thing we need to do is change the sheets on the bed and sleep.”

“Just sleep?” she teased, feeling her heart pick up the way it hadn’t done in months. 

He let out a low chuckle. “Just sleep,” he repeated. “I want nothing more than to wake up next to you, Kara Zor-El. Everything else can come later. But that’s what I want most.”

“Me too,” she whispered, leaning in to kiss him. After months (for her), and years (for him), of waking from a dream of him being there…she needed this so much. She needed to wake up and actually have him next to her, real and firm, and she knew he needed it too.

He smiled, leaning in to kiss her again. “I love you.”

Kara rested her forehead to his, smiling so much her unused-smile-muscles were straining. “I love you, too.”

And by the time they woke the next morning, together and curled up in each others’ arms, it was like something slotted into place, like a final puzzle piece had been found and they were whole again. Their hearts beat as one and they both knew, whatever the day brought, they would face it the same way, just like they would the rest of their lives. 

As one.

**Author's Note:**

> Was it just me or did Kara seem...blank to you at the end? Like after Clark left, she just seemed like she was shutting down. After speaking to Cat, she seemed blank, like she was just going to fixate on being a hero even though her heart wasn't in it anymore. Her expression at the end just seemed flat, and it made me think that she'd go the route of "going through the motions" but not really take care of herself. She'd throw herself into her work and life as Supergirl and ignore anything and everything around her, becoming like a robot/zombie, till Mon-El comes back. That is just my speculation of how she'll handle it based on how she sounded and looked at the end of the episode.
> 
> It's also my speculation of what the wormhole was and where Mon-El may have gone, based on theories I saw floating around tumblr, and how he'll get back. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! :-)
> 
> (Also, I felt like the hindsight thing might have been real in some way. Kill Rhea, Mon-El becomes king, orders the Daxamites gone. But Superheroes don't kill so...Mon-El had to leave because of it.)


End file.
